Patrick
Vieira Biography – Introduction - France always had a tradition for strong and
intelligent defensive midfielders with a keen sense of leadership.
Whether it was Didier Deschamps, Makelele or Patrick Vieira in this
posture (or two of them), France was always a tough nut to crack, due
to its impressive midfield coordinated by these players.
With Didier
Deschamps, the legendary France captain that won the World
Cup and European Championship, retired and with Claude Makelele very
close to retirement age too, the hopes of French fans to keeping the
defensive midfielder's tradition in the national squad is a job left on
the shoulders of Patrick Vieira.
Full
name
Patrick
Donale Vieira
Date
of birth
June
23, 1976
Place
of birth
Dakar,
Senegal
Height
6.4FT
- 1.93M
Playing
position
Defensive
Midfielder
Patrick Vieira
Biography – Youth Clubs and France Period Like many other French soccer players,
Patrick
Vieira was born outside France. He was born and raised in Senegal and
only moved to Paris at the age of 8, when he immediately started
playing for his first youth club, FC Trappes.
His youth days would take
him from Trappes to FC Drouais, then in 1991 to Tours FC at the age of
15. He played for Tours' youth squad until 1993, when first division
French team AS Cannes spotted him and bought the 17 year old defensive
midfielder.
At Cannes, his
leadership and
impressive constitution earned him not only a place in the first team,
but the respect of his fellow teammates. Debuting at 17, he was already
captaining the team at age 19,
becoming
one of the youngest captains in the history of the French leagues.
Italian giants AC Milan
saw a
great future to this French kid and bought him in the summer of 1995,
Unfortunately, Vieira wasn't given a real chance to play in the
star-studded team of AC Milan and he only got 2 substitute appearances
during the entire 1995-1996 season, which were obviously not enough for
a player hungry for trophies and pitch time. So when the offer from
English club Arsenal London came, Vieira grabbed it with both hands.
Season
Club
Games
Goals
1993–1995
AS
Cannes
49
2
1995–1996
A.C.
Milan
2
0
1996–2005
Arsenal
279
29
2005–2006
Juventus
31
5
2006–Present
Internazionale
20
1
Last
Update - May 25, 2007
Domestic League Only
Patrick Vieira
Biography –
Arsenal London Arsene Wenger was just being named
coach in
the summer of 1996 and he specifically asked for several French soccer
players, Patrick Vieira's name being on top of the list.
The coach gave the young midfielder a chance to play and he didn't
disappoint, especially since he was practically built for playing in
the English league: he had high stamina, was good with headers and had
an impressive constitution.
Fortunately for
Vieira, his
good performances at Arsenal also brought him in the attention of the French
national side, right on time as they were preparing to start
the 1998 World Cup.
Although he wasn't a first team member, as France
had both Didier Deschamps and Makelele available for the defensive
midfielder position, Vieira did play at the World Cup and he even
played in the final as a substitute, assisting Emmanuel Petit in the
3-0 goal against Brazil.
Coming back to
Arsenal with
even more confidence, Vieira would make a legend out of his name with
the Gunners, helping them win the League and Cup in 1998, then again in
2002.
In the meantime, his participation with the French national squad
at the European Championship was also crowned with success, Vieira now
entering a select group of players that managed to lift both the World
Cup and Euro Trophy.
The 2003-2004
season was
probably the most impressive in the league, since Vieira helped Arsenal
achieve a historic record, going unbeaten the
entire season in the Premier League. He got his third League-Cup double
with Arsenal that year, but in 2005 decided to move back to Italy to
try his luck with giants Juventus Torino.
Years
National
Team
Games
Goals
1997–Present
France
101
6
Last
Update - April 16, 2007
Patrick
Vieira Biography –
Back to Italy His return to Italy was
received with joy from
the Juventus fans and Vieira immediately made an impact, helping Juve
add yet another title to their long list of trophies.
However, the
summer of 2006 proved to be a nightmare for Vieira, as Juventus were
stripped of their recently won title and relegated to the second
division after a match fixing scandal. As if that wasn't enough, he
also lost the 2006 World Cup final that summer with France, being
defeated by Italy.
He stated
clearly he would not
play in the second division with Juventus, so he was bought by
Internazionale Milano, for which he played 20 league games in the last
season, winning the Italian league once more.
Since he's just over his
30s, Patrick Vieira will probably play at least a couple more years for
Inter and he's expected to lead France in yet
another impressive Euro and World Cup run in 2008 and 2010
respectively.
